Marion D. wrote:
>
> Just to clarify my position on many things here, i happen to loathe
> McDonald's. It is probably not well known that in Britain McDonald's has
> waged a decade-long campaign against freedom of speech. I believe
> American McDonald's protestors have not yet been effective enough to feel
> McDonald's iron fist, but wait a bit. Those vicious, lying,
> consumer-deceiving, environment-destroying promulgators of some of the
> most unhealthy food anyone can purchase have certainly learned the purpose
> of a lawsuit. Their destructiveness knows no bounds. Their food is easily
> as bad for people as tobacco, they are the forerunner of the global
> serfdom that imperialistic capitalism would like to reduce the world's
> population to. They are a law and a nation unto themselves. Their
> advertising has a vile deceptiveness that makes Scientology look honest.

What I am going to post is not in response to the main point of your
posting, so I have started a thread with a different subject.

Back when I was still in the Sea Org, there was a "crew" briefing we
were given by the Inspector General Network. This was back in the early
80s after the Guardian Office was renamed OSA and the corporate structure
of Scientology was "sorted out" <grin> (actually it was reorganized).

The SO staff were told that the reason for the establishment of the
various networks and corporations (the Religious Technology Center,
The Network Co-Ordinating Committee, The Watchdog Committee, The Inspector
General Network, The Office of Special Affairs and others) was to ensure
the expansion of Scientology, to protect the "tech" from "squirrelling",
to keep the orgs "on-Source", etc.

Part of the "explanation" for all of the reorganization was given to
us by comparing "standard tech" to a McDonald's Big Mac! No kidding --
this *really* happened!

The analogy was made that one could go into a McDonald's anywhere in
the world and purchase their Big Mac, and the quality (sic) would be the
same. A Big Mac purchased in Tokyo would taste the same as a Big Mac
that had been purchased in London, or New York, etc. By registering all
the service marks, trademarks and copyrights, Scientology could thusly
ensure that everything remained "on Source", since it could all be legally
controlled and protected. The idea was to ensure that if a person went
into an org or mission in Omaha, Nebraska, the "pc" would get the same
"standard tech" as he would if he went into a Scientology center in
Boomfucque, Iowa or Intercourse, Pennsylvania or Cut N Shoot, Texas.
Through Scientology's control of their "tech" by *policing* the "lines",
"standard tech" could be obtained anywhere in the world.

There's a lot I could say about all of this, and perhaps I will at a
later date. For now, I just had to comment on the comparison of McDonald's
Big Mac to "standard tech" because Marion's posting had me laughing my
butt of when I considered the obvious ironies.

To wit:

Scientology's top execs compared themselves to McDonald's Corp. whose
food (sic) is some of the worst in the world in terms of quality. The same
is true for Scientology's "religious technology". In my opinion, the
analogy is an accurate one since Scientology as a "religion" is one of the
worst in the world in terms of quality. And both a Big Mac and a "Big
Thetan" are products of huge corporations. Both were incorporated in the
50's. And both don't like competition. Both use armies of lawyers to
knock out any "enemies". McDonald's has their "billions and billions
sold" displayed prominently under their "golden arches", and Scientology
has "over 15 millions copies sold" prominently displayed under their
volcano on the cover of _DMSMH_ and in the TV ads. McDonald's sells
"junk food", and Scientology *sells* "junk religion" (my opinion).

Do you remember the movie "Sleeper"? There is a scene in which Woody
Allen, after waking up and coming out from his time capsule, sees a
McDonald's with the sign which reads something like: